


Can You Hear Me Now?

by WhiteHawkHarringrove



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Redemption, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Concussions, Hurt Steve Harrington, Multi, Permanent Injury, Protective Dustin Henderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2019-09-16 16:24:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16957461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHawkHarringrove/pseuds/WhiteHawkHarringrove
Summary: Something happens to Steve during the fight with Billy. Nothing will ever be the same for him again





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you want this continued, I probably won't get back to it for a while

Pain. That was all Steve could feel as Billy's fists rained down on his face. He could hear the kids yelling but it was muffled, cotton seemed to fill up his ears as punch after punch landed on his face. With a final punch, his world went black. 

When he opened his eyes, it was all a blur. It was unusually silent. He looked up and saw a person sitting next to him.

“Nancy?” Steve asked, frowning, the frown aggravated his cuts. Steve groaned and brought his hand up to his face.

Steve could see Dustin's lips move but no words seemed to come out, the same thing happened when he looked to the driver's seat to see Max and Lucas in the passenger's seat. He could sort of hear noises but it was indecipherable. 

“What's going on?” Steve asked, looking around. his expression quickly turned panicked. “Oh my god. Whoa, what's going on? Stop the car! Slow down!”

Dustin and Mike tried to calm Steve down but it wasn't working. Dustin kept the ice pack on Steve's head. 

“STOP THE CAR!” Steve's voice cracked as he screamed. The other boys continued to argue and again Steve was left in almost complete silence.

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I'm trying to focus!” Max yelled over everyone, Steve just barely managed to hear her when she yelled.

He could see Lucas yelling, then Max yanked the wheel left. It was only at that moment that it hit him. He couldn't hear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everything Dustin came up to him and his lips started moving. Maybe Dustin was whispering, that had to be it.
> 
> “Stop playing around, it's not funny dipshit,” Steve hissed, Dustin looked at him in confusion and mouthed something that Steve could just barely make out: 'What?'.
> 
> “Stop mouthing words, just talk already!” Steve told the kid, starting to panic. Surely this couldn't be happening to him.

It was after the gate was finally closed that someone finally noticed that something was off with Steve besides his face looking like it had been hit with a meat tenderizer. He wasn't paying attention to anything at all. 

Steve tried to concentrate on what people were saying but it was still muffled in one of his ears, the other was still nothing. After everything Dustin came up to him and his lips started moving. Maybe Dustin was whispering, that had to be it.

“Stop playing around, it's not funny dipshit,” Steve hissed, Dustin looked at him in confusion and mouthed something that Steve could just barely make out: 'What?'.

“Stop mouthing words, just talk already!” Steve told the kid, starting to panic. Surely this couldn't be happening to him. Dustin gestured for him to stay there and then ran to Joyce, who had just arrived at her home to see everyone already there. 

Steve saw Dustin's mouth move frantically, Joyce put a gentle hand on his shoulder then approached Steve. She moved the injured teen over to the couch and sat him down before yelling barely audible instructions to the others.

“Steve! Steve! Can you hear me kiddo?” Joyce shouted, and Steve nodded. Mike came into the room a minute later with a bowl in one hand and a cloth in the other and Lucas followed close behind with a first aid kit. 

“Honey! The ambulance is coming! Now, I'm going to clean up your face a bit, okay? This might hurt a bit!” Joyce spoke loud enough for Steve to hear. Steve managed to nod slightly and held his breath as the kind woman lifted the wet cloth to his face. 

Steve whimpered as Joyce gently wiped the cuts on his face with a hot, damp cloth.

“It's okay honey, it's okay!” Joyce reassured him, running a comforting hand through his hair. The woman was surprised that the injured teen hadn't passed out yet, he seemed to be in a great deal of pain.

Joyce finished cleaning the blood from the teen's face and placed the rag into the red tinted water and left it to get out gauze from the first aid kit and some a tube of cream to prevent infection. She gently bandaged his face up and let him lie on the couch while she threaded her fingers through his hair.

“It's okay, sweetie, they'll be here soon. They'll be here soon.”


	3. Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's so short

Joyce was right, the ambulance arrived within minutes. Dustin opened the door and two paramedics came rushing in, Steve latched onto Joyce like a child. The kids watched on, scared. They had never seen the teen like this before. 

One of the paramedics attempted to roll him over but Steve flinched in pain. The paramedic rolled his shirt up to reveal a boot shaped bruise forming. Joyce gasped

*”I told you to plant your feet.”*

*Billy's boot came down onto Steve's ribcage and he cried out.*

“Looks like at least two ribs are broken, wrap his chest and put a collar on him to stabilize his head, we don't know what kind of trauma could have occurred. Anything you can tell us?” The paramedic asked Joyce.

“He's having trouble hearing, that's all I know, other than that and his ribs, it just looks like cuts and bruises.” 

Everything after that flew by. Joyce rode in the ambulance with Steve to make sure he stayed calm and Hopper came to bring the kids to the hospital. They saw the kind-hearted woman sitting in a chair in the waiting room.

“How is he?” Dustin asked. Joyce shook her head, a single tear sliding down her cheek. 

“I don't know, he was in and out of consciousness in the ambulance. From what I heard, it looks like he might have some serious brain damage. They won't know for sure until he's fully awake,” Joyce told them, attempting to not cry. The kids sat in a huddle on the floor in front of Joyce's chair and Hopper took the seat beside her. They sat like that for hours, some of the kids started dozing off as it was nearing midnight.

“Steve Harrington?” A doctor asked, the group was startled out of their dazes. Joyce was the first to approach the doctor.

“How is he?” She asked, hugging her arms around her body. 

“He's stable, there isn't as much damage to the brain as we first feared. Unfortunately, Mr. Harrington has lost his hearing completely on one side, luckily, his hearing is starting to return on the other side. We expect his hearing to fully return on the one side but on the other, the damage was too great, there is less than .1% chance that it will return. Now, Mr. Harrington also has 3 broken ribs and 2 cracked ribs as well as minor lacerations and contusions on his face which should heal up with very little scarring. Any questions?” The doctor asked.

“Can we see him?” Dustin asked, the doctor nodded and gestured for them to follow.

“We have him sedated at the moment, he was panicking earlier, he should be calmer when he sees you.” The doctor told them and opened the door to Steve's room.


	4. I'm Not A Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're not a monster  
> I'm not a monster  
> But we have monsters inside of us
> 
> -MISSIO
> 
> Billy Redemption...if you don't like it then don't read it

“I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, Steve.” That was the first thing the group heard as they entered the room. Their eyes were immediately drawn to a figure beside the bed, the figure didn't notice them.

“Billy?” Max exclaimed. Billy whirled around to face them, he had a nasty bruise on the side of his face and a decent sized cut under his eye along with a busted lip and a bruise on his chest that disappeared under his shirt. Tear tracks were visible despite the injuries to his face.

Needless to say, the group was shocked, not only by Billy's presence but at the sight of him, he looked like he was hit by a truck.

“I'm so sorry, you have to believe me, I didn't mean to. Neil told me that if I didn't bring you home he would kill me. When I saw Steve I just got so angry and I lashed out. I didn't mean to... when I started punching, all I could see was Neil's face...” Billy trailed off into a sob. Max was stunned silent for a minute, she had never seen her stepbrother act this way.

“Don't apologize to me. It's him you need to apologize to,” Max finally said, pointing at Steve's thin figure in the hospital bed. Her words didn't hold as much venom as she wanted them to... she couldn't seem to with the shape Billy was in. 

“Kid... I think we should have a chat outside about what happened tonight,” Hopper told Billy. Billy met the chief of police outside the door and Hopper gently put a hand on the teen's shoulder. It was that gentle touch that caused Billy to sink to his knees, putting his head in his hands. The kids quietly made their way into the room as Hopper kneeled beside Billy.

“I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry,” Billy repeated those words on a seemingly endless loop, crying the entire time. Joyce kneeled beside Billy opposite Hopper and took the sobbing teen into her arms. 

“Joyce, be careful,” Hopper warned, still wary of the teen who hurt Steve. 

“Jim, he's just a kid and he's hurting.” Joyce told Hopper quietly, her voice sharp. Billy clung to Joyce like the mother he once had. 

“Who did this to you sweetie?” Joyce asked softly, Billy's eyes snapped open with fear and he pushed himself back towards the wall. 

“I cant- I- he'll hurt her- I won't-” Billy said around panicked breaths. Hopper approached the teen

“You and Max will have nothing to worry about, we'll keep you safe, I promise.” Hopper told Billy, but the teen shrunk further into the wall. 

“I can't!” Billy shouted, startling the two adults. Joyce had a feeling that she knew exactly who it was.

“Sweetie, was it your father?” The woman asked gently. Billy stared at her for a minute before giving her the tiniest nod of his head.


End file.
